Rural Payments and Services

The aim of these rules is to protect pigs by setting minimum standards for their care and management and welfare. These rules apply as well as the rules for the welfare of farmed animals (SMR 13).

For all pigs*:

You must:

Accommodation and buildings

1. make sure that each of your pigs is free to turn around without difficulty at all times, including while tethered (where this is allowed)

2. make sure that the accommodation for your pigs allows them to:

• stand up, lie down and rest without difficulty
• have a clean, comfortable and adequately drained place in which to rest (including making sure that any bedding is clean, dry and not harmful to the pigs)
• see other pigs (unless the pig is isolated for veterinary reasons or for farrowing)
• maintain a comfortable temperature
• have enough space to allow all of them to lie down at the same time

3. make sure that individual stalls or pens satisfy the minimum size rules (see table 1.0 – these do not apply in certain excepted situations)

4. provide artificial lighting of at least 40 lux for at least eight hours each day, for pigs kept in an artificially lit building

5. provide flooring, for those pigs kept in building, that is:

• smooth but not slippery
• suitable for the size and weight of the pigs
• rigid, even and stable, if there is no litter
• designed, constructed and maintained so there is no injury or suffering to the pigs standing or lying on it

6. provide flooring of the correct measurements (for openings and slats) if you use concrete slatted floors (see table 1.1 below – this applies for all pigs in groups)

Feed, water and environmental enrichment

7. make sure that when feeding group-housed pigs each pig either:

• has access to feed at the same time as the others in the feeding group
• has continuous access to feed
• is fed by an automatic feeding system

8. give all pigs above two weeks old permanent access to a sufficient supply of fresh drinking water

9. give permanent access to enough manipulate material which allows proper investigation and manipulation, for example, straw, hay, wood, sawdust, mushroom compost, peat or a mixture of such, which does not upset the health of your animals

Prevention of fighting

10. take measures to prevent fighting which goes beyond normal behaviour. If you keep pigs together, keep those pigs separate which show persistent aggression or are victims of that aggression

You must not:

Accommodation and buildings

1. keep pigs in high temperature / high humidity environment known as the ‘sweat-box system’

2. expose your pigs to constant or sudden noise, or levels above 85 decibels in any building where you keep pigs

Tethering

3. tether pigs at any time

• you will not break the rule relating to the tethering of pigs if it is done for veterinary purposes. In these cases any tether must be regularly inspected and adjusted to make sure that it does not cause pain or injury to the pig. And allows the pig to lie down, rest, stand up and groom itself

*European Commission guidance (2012) indicates that, due to agreed European manufacturing tolerances in precast concrete, for weaner pigs to adults a +2mm or +3mm gap tolerance should be allowed depending on type of pig. Note, that there is no tolerance for gaps for piglets or for slat width which must achieve the minimum.

For all boars*:

You must:

1. place and build boar pens to allow the boars to turn around and hear, see and smell other pigs

2. provide clean resting areas in the boar pens and make sure that the lying area is dry and comfortable

3. make sure that each boar has its minimum allowance of unobstructed floor space:

• each adult boar must have at least six square metres of unobstructed floor space
• if used for natural service the floor area must be at least 10 square metres and free of obstacles

For all sows* and gilts*:

You must:

Prevention of parasites

1. treat pregnant sows and gilts against internal and external parasites, if necessary

Farrowing

2. thoroughly clean pregnant sows and gilts before they are placed in farrowing crate

3. give sows and gilts enough suitable nesting material in the week before the expected farrowing time (unless it is not technically practical because of the slurry system you use)

4. provide an unobstructed area behind the sow or gilt during farrowing

5. provide some method of protecting the piglets, such as farrowing rails, if you keep sows loose in farrowing pens

Group housing

6. keep sows and gilts in groups (except during the period between seven days before the predicted day of farrowing and the day on which the weaning of piglets is complete)

7. make sure that each female pig after service, when kept in groups, has its minimum allowance (see table 1.2) of unobstructed floor space, continuous solid floor and pens of correct dimensions

8. feed sows and gilts using a system that makes sure each pig can get enough food even when other pigs are competing for food

9. give all dry pregnant sows and gilts enough bulky or high-fibre food, as well as high-energy food, to satisfy their hunger and need to chew

You will not break the rule relating to keeping sows and gilts in groups if they are kept on holdings of fewer than 10 sows, provided that the individual accommodation keeps to the general rules for pig accommodation.

For all piglets*:

You must:

1. provide piglets with a source of heat and a dry comfortable lying area away from the sow where all of them can rest at the same time

2. make sure that a part of the total floor where you keep the piglets is large enough to allow the animals to rest together at the same time and is solid, covered with a mat or littered with straw or any other suitable material

3. give the piglets enough space to be able to suckled without difficulty if you use a farrowing crate

You must not:

1. wean piglets from the sow at an age of less than 28 days (unless there is a risk of adverse welfare or health of the dam or piglets)

You will not break the rule relating to the weaning of piglets if they are weaned up to seven days earlier, provided that you move them into specialised housing which you empty and thoroughly clean and disinfect before you introduce a new group and which is separate from the housing where you keep sows.

For weaners and rearing pigs

You must:

1. make sure that each weaner or rearing pig, when kept in groups, has its minimum allowance of unobstructed floor space (see table 1.3)

2. place pigs in groups as soon as possible after weaning and keep these groups stable with as little mixing as possible

3. provide opportunities for the animals to escape and hide from unfamiliar pigs if mixing is necessary. This must also be done at a young age as possible, preferably before, or up to one week after, weaning

You must not:

1. use tranquilising medication to help with mixing, unless there are exceptional circumstances and is on the advice of a vet

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